DC Talk’s Michael Tait to Tour with Rock Guitarist Santana
Michael Tait, one of the most respected vocalists in the contemporary Christian genre, has been invited to tour Europe with the legendary rock guitarist Carlos Santana.
“It is a great honor for me to accept a vocalist position with music legend Carlos Santana,” says Michael Tait. “To even be asked to join with one of the greatest artists in the history of rock and roll is humbling to say the least. I did not pursue this and was blown away when he called. While this is a great opportunity, let there be no question – I remain 100% committed to my own band, TAIT. One of the most attractive components of this is that I will be able to continue to record and perform with my band. Carlos has been so gracious; he has even asked me to perform two TAIT songs in the live show.”
Peter York, President, EMI CMG Label Group, says, “We are thrilled that Michael will have this incredible opportunity to share his gifts on a global level. He is a valued artist in the EMI family and we look forward to an exciting future together. We continue to see great momentum with his current album Lose This Life and are pleased to support this exciting new opportunity with Santana.”
Michael Tait will make his debut with Santana when the band kicks off its upcoming European tour on July 2 in France. The tour will also make stops in Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Michael will additionally take part in the recording of a new Carlos Santana studio album to be released later in 2004, with a U.S. tour reportedly in the works for next spring.
With career sales of seven million albums, Michael Tait first became known as co-founder of the four-time Grammy award-winning group dc talk. Fueled by their 1995 landmark hit, “Jesus Freak,” dc talk went on to sell one Double-Platinum and several other Platinum and Gold albums. The band was one of the first in the genre to cross over into the mainstream market, having performed on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Good Morning America, and featured in publications including Newsweek and The New York Times.
In the last several years, Michael has enjoyed success with his band, TAIT (Chad Chapin, Lonnie Chapin and Justin York) (EMI CMG/ForeFront). Says Michael, “I am so thankful that my band is encouraging me to pursue this path. I look forward to continuing working with these guys. They have poured their heart and soul in to TAIT. I am ecstatic about a future with them.”
Carlos Santana is at the pinnacle of a remarkable recording and performing career that has spanned five decades, sold more than fifty million albums, played live to upwards of thirty million fans and garnered countless awards and honors, including a 1998 induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall Of Fame. His latest album release, Supernatural, the 36th of his career, has sold in excess of ten million copies and has been officially certified Dectillion Platinum – Diamond Status-by the R.I.A.A. It won nine Grammy Awards in February 2000, including Album Of the Year, Best Rock Album and Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year.
For more information, log on to www.santana.com or www.forefrontrecords.com.
Brentwood, Tennessee-based EMI CMG Label Group is comprised of the Forefront, Sparrow and worshiptogether labels and is a division of the EMI Christian Music Group. EMI Christian Music Group is the world’s largest Christian music organization and includes EMI CMG Distribution and EMI CMG Publishing in addition to EMI CMG Label Group. It is part of EMI Group, the world’s largest independent music company whose other U.S. labels include Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol, Capitol Nashville, EMI Latin, Narada and Virgin Records.
